Huawei has introduced HarmonyOS Next for developers, but one major feature will be missing – support for apk files, which are Android apps. Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei, announced that the new operating system is prepared for end users, leading to confusion among Huawei owners globally.
Huawei’s own set of apps
A week after the announcement, the company clarified that the new operating system will not be available in overseas units. Mobile phones and tablets in those regions will continue to use EMUI, a HarmonyOS lookalike based on the Android open-source project without Google branding and applications. Support for apk files will also be maintained.
According to China Mobile, Huawei will “continue to increase its support for developers around the world.” The company has a large team of app developers dedicated to ensuring that Android apps from third-party stores function properly on their Google-less phones.
Huawei executives have assured the GSMArena team multiple times that support for phones and tablets in global markets will continue to expand. The company remains committed to being a major player in the mobile phone industry, both in terms of software and hardware.
Google Maps on a Huawei P60 Pro with limited features, downloaded from a third-party app store
It has also been confirmed that Huawei will continue to use the Emotion UI (EMUI) branding for its overseas devices until it is certain that customers are ready to transition to HarmonyOS.